System Awards: Best PS2 Game of 2006

The PS2 has become the system of choice for RPG fans and that
was never more evident than in 2006. Gamers had the pick of
the litter when it came to their favorite genre with offereings
like Grandia III, Xenosaga Episode 3: Also Sprach Zarathustra,
Shadow Hearts: From the New World and even the quircky Steambot
Chronicles. However, none could match the epic nature, visuals
and gripping story of FFXII in our opinion.

GH2 won't be a PS2 exclusive for much longer, as its due to
arrive on the Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. For the time being
if you want to rock the rockingest rock game in the history
of music games, you're gonna have to pony up for Guitar Hero
2. Might as well pick up (pun not intended) the original Guitar
Hero while you're at it, because the tunes rock just as hard
on that one.

It's hard to imagine a tougher sell to teenage gamers - make
an RPG game and cram it full of characters that used to be
on your bedsheets a few short years ago - some of whom you'd
cross the street to avoid like Winnie the Pooh or Ariel the
Little Mermaid. But Square has the magic touch and teenage
boys were able to look past the Disney license again, just
so they could play this wonderful adventure.

What's with the playable wolf theme this year? First Okami,
then Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Since the first time
we saw Okami's art direction, we were hooked. When we played
it at E3 we were sold. When we reviewed the final copy, we were
spellbound by the story and the gameplay. Okami is a wonder
to behold and should be played by every available gamer.

Rockstar proved that it courts controversy when they just
announce games these days. Bully puts you into the shoes of
a student at Bullworth Academy who just wants to get back
at the kids who are being mean. It was great, harmless prank
kind of stuff and well integrated into the overall theme.
We haven't been in school for years and Bully allowed us to
relive the "not so" glory days.